Training Commander Up
by Michelle-And-The-Beatle
Summary: Commander Up hasn't been too successful in his combat sessions, and he goes to Bug for help. And yes, I think they're cute together. This is a fluffy fic, so be warned. ;)
1. Pillow Fight

Bug was getting ready to go to bed in the G.L.E.E.'s ship. He was sitting in his bed, hands under his head, looking up at the ceiling of his room. Bug was thinking mainly about how he finally got to be a Starship Ranger, and also about February. Bug was smiling at the metal ceiling and sighed contently while thinking about the 'Schience' Officer.

The bug in disguise wasn't exactly _tired_, though. Bug just lied in his bed, thinking. Then there was a knock on his door that he dreamily responded to.

"Come in," Bug said, still grinning above him. The person who walked in was Commander Up. He looked almost nervous. Bug glanced at Up and remained lying down.

"Hi, Up."

"Oh, uh... hello, Bug."

Commander Up stayed close to the door and was clasping his hands together in front of him.

"What do you need?" Bug asked him, now sitting up. Up looked at the floor as he mumbled his answer.

"I was just... thinking about when you and me were... well, talking. A-And I kind of have something troubling me. So I was wondering, Bug, if you could help me out again," Up looked up at Bug hopefully. Bug smiled at him and nodded his head.

"Sure, Up! Come here and tell me about it," Bug sat on the edge of his bed and waited for Up to join him. The commander walked to the bed, but instead of sitting next to Bug, he climbed onto his lap. Bug adjusted himself to the added weight on his knee and wrapped an arm around Up's waist. Up sighed contently.

"Alright... it's kind of about _me_," Up paused, waiting to see Bug's reaction. The Ranger didn't really give him any new facial expression, but Up saw that he was listening.

"I-I was in the sparring room before I came here. And I was watching the members of our team, you know, exercise. I saw how everyone was doing fine, and then Taz wanted me to practice with her," Up swallowed, "S-So, I said yeah. And we got onto the mat. But Taz was just... so _good_. I've never seen anything like it! Well, except for when I did that stuff during the Robot Wars," he shuddered thinking about it and continued, "She beat me, Bug. Every single time!"

Bug looked at Up sympathetically. Up was starting to break down, but he was holding it in.

"And Taz yelled at me for not even trying, but I was! Taz quit on me. And I tried to prove to her that I was trying and I just had lost my touch. I partnered up with Krayonder, Specs, and even Tootsie! B-But I ended up on my robotic backside every time... Bug, I don't think I can be a Starship Commander anymore."

Bug's jaw dropped and his brows furrowed as he gasped.

"No, Up! Y-You can't quit or anything! You're the best leader this team has, even though you may not be as tough as you say you used to be. We need you, Up."

Commander Up gave a snort of defeat and shook his head.

"We do. Even if you don't think we do. This is just like what I said last time. Being soft isn't a bad thing. Not at all! Maybe with the training... you were probably just off your game today, that's all!" Bug smiled at Up. Up looked back at Bug, but didn't feel much better.

"I-I don't know, Bug."

Bug suddenly got an idea. It might end badly for him, but he wasn't thinking about that just yet.

"Hey! How about _we_ practice? Huh? Come on," Bug smiled at Up reassuringly. Up's eyes widened.

"But Bug... you've lived on that Bug World for years! How am I supposed to beat you when you know all of this 'bug' stuff?"

"Well... how am I supposed to beat _you_ since you were in the Robot Wars and you know all this 'robot' stuff?"

Up thought about that then showed a small smile. He jumped off of Bug's lap and stood up with a new energy.

"Yeah. Let's get to it!" Up got in a pose that looked as though he were about to sumo wrestle someone. Bug was confused.

"Wait, shouldn't we go to the training room?"

"Nah. We can start right here... plus, I think Taz is still up there..." Up's ears turned pink, "I don't want her to see me, you know... suck... again."

"Oh, okay."

Bug stood three feet away from Up and tried to mimic the other's position.

"Ready, Bug?" Up looked like a mix of determined and nervous. Bug, not entirely sure of what he was getting himself into, nodded. Up charged at him, but just when he was about to crash into Bug, he pulled up and cringed. Up was crouching on his knees, eyes closed and covering his face with his hands.

Bug had never exactly fought anyone before, but he could tell that this wasn't what one is supposed to do.

"Uh... Up?" Bug tapped the commander's shoulder, and Up fell on his back. He was curling into a ball. Bug fought a smile, since he knew this wasn't supposed to be funny.

"U-Up? I'm not gonna hurt you. You can get up."

But Commander Up stayed in that position, shivering and eyes jammed closed. Bug bent over Up and tried to unfurl him and get him back on his feet.

"Come on. Get back up... there you go."

Up was finally standing. His face was flushed with embarrassment.

"Hey, it's okay, Up. But... why did you do that?"

"I-I was afraid that you were gonna hit me..." Up's chin was now touching his chest. Bug grabbed Up's shoulders and shook him gently, which brought his head back up again.

"That's okay. Maybe we could... I wish there was some way we can- can build you up to fighting for real, you know?"

Up looked confused.

"Like..." Bug looked around his room for some inspiration. His eyes fell on the two white, puffy things on his bed. Bug eagerly grabbed the pillows and brought them back to Up, smiling.

"We can use these," Bug thrust one pillow into Up's hands. He remembered a time when he and February were in her room on the spaceship. And February started hitting him with a pillow, which turned into a pillow war between the two. Bug figured that since that didn't make him scared or anything, and since pillows didn't hurt much, this would be perfect to start re-training Up with.

"A-Am I using this as a shield?" Up asked.

"If you want to. It all depends on what I do."

Bug held his pillow with one of his hands, still smiling. Up was clutching his, not sure of what to do with it. Bug fought back giggles when he saw this.

"Up, you're supposed to be ready to hit me with it," Bug adjusted Up's pillow, "There. Now, we just hit each other with these. It's easy."

"So... you want us to have a pillow fight?" Up looked at Bug.

"Yeah! Hey, unless you want to go train with Taz aga-"

"No! Pillows are fine," Up caressed his pillow.

Bug chuckled.

"Great! Okay, so you know how this works now, right?"

"I-I think so."

"Okay. So, I'll start."

Bug tried to recollect what he did with February. All he remembers most clearly was having fun. And he hoped that this would be fun and helpful to Up, who looked scared out of his mind.

Bug brought the pillow over his head and aimed a whack at Up. Up brought his pillow over his face, and Bug's pillow hit it.

"Okay. Now you try."

Up looked over his pillow at Bug, who was still smiling. He moved slightly closer to Bug.

"It's not gonna hurt me, if that's what you're worried about."

That seemed to lift Up's spirits because he completely hit Bug's right arm with the pillow.

"Good," Bug giggled. Up actually smiled, too. Bug aimed and again came into contact with Up's pillow. But the Commander immediately shot his pillow at him, without hesitation.

The two Starship officers began walking in a circle as they attacked each other with pillows. Neither one thinking about how stupid this would make them look if anyone saw this.

"Come on, Up. You hit like Krayonder!" Bug tried tormenting Up to see what that would do. Up grunted and began delivering blow after blow to Bug. Bug was trying to block these attacks with his own pillow, but he eventually tripped over his bed and landed on his back on it. Up took this time to really wallop Bug with his pillow when he saw that he was down.

Bug was smiling and bringing his knees up to his chest to try and deflect these pillows.

"Ha! Who hits like Krayonder now?"

"Y-You do!"

"Oh yeah?"

Up ran to the dresser in Bug's room and opened the cabinet, pulling out two more pillows. He left one of them on the ground, but began to stalk Bug again, now holding two pillows.

"Oh, that's not fair," Bug playfully glared at Up. Up chuckled, swinging the pillows in his hands as if they were nunchucks. Bug remained on his bed, backing up to the headboard, holding his pillow tightly. Up advanced on him and jumped onto the bed also. He brought both pillows down on Bug.

Bug held his one pillow firmly over his face to protect it. Now he just felt thuds on his pillow. Suddenly, he felt his legs being pulled and his pillow flew out of his hands.

"Hey! Wh-"

But he couldn't finish what he was saying when a shower of pillows rained on top of him. Bug was glad that Up was getting the hang of this.

"We can't have any of that curling up there, Bug. That's why I yanked you down," Up smirked and threw a pillow right at Bug's face. Bug clutched his nose, laughing as he did so.

"Ow! Up!" Bug whined.

"Admit that you hit like Krayonder, and I'll stop, Bug."

"No!"

"Alright, you asked for it."

Up picked up one pillow at a time, and chucked each one at Bug. Bug grabbed the pillow nearest to him and charged at Up with it. They were still on the bed, and it started creaking with every movement they made.

"Take this, sir!" Bug whacked Up on the side of his head with the pillow. Up hit Bug on his stomach with his own pillow.

"Oof!"

Bug landed on his front on the bed, and his pillow was now in the hands of Commander Up. But Bug saw a stray pillow on the ground. He tried crawling off the bed, and landed with a thud on the floor. When he was fingertips away from the pillow, Up caught him around the waist and pulled him back.

"I should let you know, Bug, that I can give a pretty mean tickle to anyone I think deserves it," Up grinned at Bug. Bug, not entirely sure he knew what a tickle was, tried reaching for the pillow again. But Up tickled Bug's side with his left hand, and Bug squealed.

"Hey! Stop that!" Bug rolled onto his back to see exactly what Up did to him.

"Ooh, and I see that a certain Ranger is ticklish."

Up tickled Bug's sides as the Ranger squirmed and laughed.

"Up! D-Don't! Ah! Stahahap!" Bug never really felt a sensation like this before. It was weird.

"So, you're saying that you hit like Krayonder and that I am superiro to you, right?"

"Ye-Yes! Sure!"

Commander Up stopped tickling immediately. Bug was lying on the floor and Up joined him. Both were out of breath.

"S-So... I think today we learned that y-you can be very relentless," Bug said breathlessly. Up chuckled, and looked at Bug.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah... definitely."

They laid on the floor for some more time. Then Up sat up and Bug followed. Up got to his feet first and helped Bug to his.

"Thank you, Bug. You haven't failed me yet."

"No problem, Up. You know, we can still practice until you're fully ready to try combat, if you want."

"You would do that for me?"

"Yeah, totally."

Up looked so grateful. He placed a hand on Bug's shoulder and half-smiled at him.

"Thank you, soldier. Goodnight."

"Yeah. 'Night, Up."

Up left Bug's room, and Bug began picking up the pillows that littered his floor. He would have to start thinking about what his next plan would consist of.

~The End~


	2. Nap Time

Bug was awake almost the entire night thinking about what he could do with Up to help him not fear man-to-man combat anymore. Basically, the best he had to tell him was the 'kill with your heart' thing, and that was it. Bug didn't expect to be helping Up again. But now he is, and he had to do something.

The next morning, during breakfast, the crew sat at a long table like they usually did when they ate. Bug was staring at his cereal, nearly slamming his face into it because he was so tired. The reason he stayed up all night was because he didn't want to fail Up. He knew that the Commander was counting on him, so he didn't want to let him down.

February was sitting next to Bug. And Bug guessed that she was speaking to him with the way she kept smiling at him, then moved her lips and arms. But he was half-asleep. February shook his arm and Bug sat up straight, blinking his eyes.

"Bug, are you okay?" the female Ranger asked him. Bug nodded sleepily.

"Yeah... just tired."

"Well, after breakfast, let's go to my room and do schiencey stuff."

"Oh... Yeah, I can't do that today, February. Sorry. I made a promise with Commander Up to help him with... something."

"Oh..." February looked dejected, "Yeah. I understand, Bug. You gotta do your grody guy stuff."

"Yeah... thanks, February," and Bug nearly fell off the bench he sat on. The Starship Ranger had no clue how he was going to teach Up if he would be sleeping the entire time.

Immediately after he finished his breakfast, Up shot out of his seat and walked toward Bug.

"Morning, soldier," Up saluted Bug, and the other responded by slapping his hand on his forehead.

"Ready to... get to it?" Up bounced eagerly on his feet. He also looked around the table to see if anyone was getting nosy. Bug grumbled something in response and stood up. He walked out of the dining room with Up following next to him.

Taz watched them go while chewing on a banana. She wondered what Up looked so excited about. The guy hadn't looked that excited since... since Bug found them and saved them from the giant spider on Bug World. She was still mad with him for not performing well while sparring with her.

Meanwhile, Bug and Up were walking down the metallic halls of their ship. Bug honestly had no idea where he was going and just let his human legs do the work. Up pulled on Bug's arm at one point and stopped him.

"Isn't that you room here, Bug?"

It turned out it was.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry."

Bug opened the door and they both walked in. Up closed the door behind him after entering and stood, looking expectantly at Bug. Bug's eyes were going in and out of focus as he stood there.

"What've you got planned for us today?"

"Oh, um... I was thinking of just lying down on this bed and..." Bug's speech was slurred. Up looked curiously at Bug when he appeared to have lost his train of thought and stopped speaking.

"More pillow fights?" Up suggested.

"No," Bug was trying to shake his head, but he only managed for it to loll from side to side.

"Bug, are you feeling alright?" Commander Up approached the Ranger.

"Yup."

Up eyed him suspiciously. He looked at his face closely and saw that his eyes were half closed.

"Has someone put something in your food this mornin', Bug?"

"No. No, I don't think so."

"You're acting strange, though."

"No, I'm fine," Bug cupped his face in his hands and shook his head a bit. Then he shook out his arms and his eyes were almost completely open now.

"Okay... so, today I wanted to work on maybe how you charge at things. Because yesterday, when we first started... you crumpled into a ball at my feet."

Up flushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"So, I was thinking that we could use these-"

Bug stopped speaking and slumped forward while he was standing. Up ran up to him and caught him before he fell.

"Bug! You need to get a hold of yours-" Up paused when he finally recognized the look on Bug's face.

"I think we should skip our lesson for today, soldier. You need some rest."

"No, Up. I'm fine, seriously," Bug wasn't made too believable when his knees nearly gave out on him.

"What'd you _do_ last night?"

"I-I was thinking of what I could do with you today... to help you."

Up smiled at this amount of concern and devotion from a Ranger.

"Come on, soldier. We need to get you to bed," Up led Bug to the bed and let him sit in it, but Bug was reluctant.

"No, I'm fine."

"No, you need to sleep. I bet you stayed awake the entire night to think of what to do with me today."

"But I need to help you..."

"It's alright, Bug. We'll start tomorrow... Or when you're not sleep-walking. Come on, lie down."

"No," Bug protested. Up chuckled.

"Do you think I haven't been able to put a soldier like you to sleep? I've dealt with every Ranger in our squad, Bug... except Taz. She wouldn't let me and ended up punching me in the mouth. But I can tell that you won't do that."

Up finally got Bug on his back on the bed.

"Come on, now. Off to sleep, Bug."

"But I don't wanna..." Bug murmured.

"You will, if I say you will, soldier. Now calm down... there you go," Up began slowly rubbing Bug's belly. Bug slowly felt his vision go from blurry to total darkness as he let sleep take him over.

Up stayed with Bug for another six minutes, and then he figured that he was far off in dreamland. So he wouldn't disturb him by taking out the blankets under Bug, Up found the spare blanket in a cupboard and laid it over Bug.

The Commander turned off Bug's light before exiting and gently closing the door behind him. Up nearly screamed when he turned around to find Taz staring up at him.

"What are jou two doing?" she asked him.

"Oh, Taz... well, Bug and I were... talking."

"Talking?" Taz repeated.

"Yep... Oh, look at the time. I have to go and, eh, show Tootsie how to hold a gun properly. See ya later, Taz," and Up was gone.

Taz sighed. She looked at the door to Bug's room and her curiosity grew. The Ranger made sure that no one was in the hallway and opened the door. She peered inside through the crack she had made, but all she saw was darkness. Taz opened the door a bit more and felt the wall for a light switch. But the light she let in from the open door answered all her questions.

Taz saw Bug sleeping in his bed with a blanket tucked in all around him. She quietly closed the door behind her and stood there, thinking. Only Up would tuck someone in that tightly.

~The End~


	3. Progress

Bug took quite a long nap that day. Everyone on Up's team was asking where the Ranger was. Taz knew, but she just shrugged her shoulders and said she didn't know to anyone who asked.

February was getting especially annoying. She saw Up walking through the halls, without Bug. So, she was beginning to think that Bug lied to her just to avoid spending time with her. The officer complained to anyone who would listen.

Back in Bug's room, the bug in a human body began to stir. It was almost two in the afternoon when he fully woke up. Bug was now wide awake, but he knew that his sleeping pattern would be a bit off for a couple of days.

Bug opened the door to his room, looked both ways down the hallway to check if anyone was there and started walking. He was nearly knocked over when February came running at him from out of nowhere. She embraced him and Bug was kind of shocked, so he didn't do the same.

"Oh, Buggy! I had no clue where you were!"

"Oh, hi, February. I was just in my room-"

"With who?" February immediately let go of Bug, put her hands on her hips, and stared at him.

"Um... just me."

"Are you sure, Bug? Because you told me at breakfast that you were going to go with Up and do stuff. But I saw him alone just, like, ten minutes ago!"

"W-Well, I can explain that-"

"Then go ahead!"

"Okay... well, I was supposed to, ahh... _show_ Up something. But I was exhausted after staying awake last night. And I fell asleep, and I guess Up left," Bug spoke quickly. February still gave him a look, but then smiled after taking it all in.

"Oh, okay! Now do you wanna come in my room with me?" February grabbed Bug's hand.

"Umm... You said you saw Up, right? What was he doing?"

"Just walking through the halls, surveying everyone."

"Oh. Can I help him instead?" Bug was waiting for February to yell at him, "Look, I really do wanna do this stuff with you, February, but I made a promise to Up that I would help him... get back on his feet."

"O-Okay, Bug."

"Thanks, February! Maybe in a couple of days we could hang out!" Bug hugged February and set off at a jog down the hallway.

"Yeah... maybe," February said to herself quietly before walking in the opposite direction down the hallway.

Bug was looking down every hallway and peering into each room he came across on the Starship. He didn't see Commander Up anywhere. Then Bug went up a level on the ship and finally found him.

Up was staring through the glass window that showed the training room. Bug noticed the _longing_ look in his eyes that made him want to help Up even more.

"Umm... sir?" Bug approached his leader carefully. Up jumped and turned to face him, nearly smiling.

"Why, hello there, Bug. How'd you sleep?"

"Fine, sir."

"Good. Did you really have something planned?"

"Oh yeah! I wouldn't have stayed up all night if I didn't."

"Good. Where are we headed to?"

"Anywhere, really," Bug peeked inside the training room like Up did before. He saw exactly what he needed.

"We could go in there..."

Up looked back at the room and sighed. Taz wasn't in there, which was a surprise.

"Okay. Yeah, let's go."

Bug smiled as he lead Up into the sparring room. He had never actually been in there before. It was a spacious room with different sections devoted to different forms of exercise. It was almost empty, save for Tootsie and Junior.

This Starship was the one near Bug World, and only held the five Rangers assigned for the mission, Junior, and Megagirl.

"Howdy, Bug," Tootsie Noodles was sitting on a machine that was used to build up someone's bicep muscles. This was Tootsie's favorite because it was the simplest to operate.

"Hiya, Tootsie," Bug waved. Junior was doing sit-ups on one of the mats in the room, and only glanced at Up and Bug when they came in.

Up was quiet because the last time he was in here, he was embarrassed badly by every member on his team. But Junior wasn't there the first time.

Bug walked to a corner in the room where a bunch of sacks were hung from the ceiling on chains.

"Bug, I've tried to use these before. They hurt..." Up whispered.

"Well... I was hoping today that you could try anyway. Because I wanted to test something. Wanna step up to it?" Bug stood by one of the suspended cylinders.

Up carefully approached the thing. Bug nodded and smiled at him. Up got into a feeble position to start a fight in, fists raised in the air.

"G'head. Swing a punch at it."

Up did so, but he only brushed it. Bug's smile diminished slightly.

"Up, you gotta try. Pretend it's a... uh..." Bug was trying to think of what Up really hated. Pretty much everything the guy hated, he was deadly afraid of.

"What do you hate so much that you wanna punch?"

"Ahh..."

"Okay," Bug had to rethink this, "What do you like?"

"Taz," Up whispered and blushed.

"Okay. So what would you do to this... sack, if it was Taz?"

Up walked close to the punching bag and wrapped his arms around it in a hug. Bug covered his mouth to hold back the laughter that was building up in him.

Junior saw Up do this, pause his sit-ups, roll his eyes, then continue.

"O-Okay..." Bug had to compose himself, "Now imagine the sack as being the complete opposite of Taz. Then what would you do to it?"

Up's content face morphed into a grimace. He balled his fists and swung a punch at the punching bag. It swung on its chain from the impact.

"Ha!" Bug clapped his hands together. Up looked at Bug and stood up straighter.

"That's it! Up... whenever you fight someone or something, all you gotta do is picture them trying to hurt Taz or something like that."

"That'll work?"

"Yeah! You just went from hugging the sack to punching it really hard!"

Up chuckled.

"Thank you, soldier. You have helped me a great deal."

Up started out going for a handshake, but then hugged Bug tightly.

"Would you two get a room?" Junior piped up from the mat. Up released Bug and stood back.

"You think I'm ready to... spar?"

"Yeah. But just practice with the punching bag a bit more."

So, Up did just that. Bug watched him as he smacked the sack.

"Up?"

"Yes?" he continued throwing punches.

"What exactly is sparring?"

"It's when you fight another Ranger, but you try not to cause them any real injuries. Basically it's wrestling and grappling with punches and kicks thrown in."

"Oh..." this sparked a new problem Bug might have to face, "Are you more comfortable with wrestling?"

"Well, I'm not as good at it as I used to be. But I know some tricks."

"Okay. I don't know much about grappling, so I don't think I can help you there."

Up stopped punching and looked at Bug, his eyes wide with an idea.

"Bug!" Up grabbed Bug's shoulders, "I could teach ya, my boy! Would you like that?"

"Um... sure?"


	4. Grappling

"Great! Get onto this mat over here," Up walked to a mat next to Junior's, but it was far enough away from him so that they wouldn't disturb him.

"Okay... you gotta remove your shoes, Bug," Up pointed out. He removed his and Bug followed. They walked back to the mat and faced each other.

"Alright. I only know the basic stuff, but it's most helpful when you're grappling someone. The first step you gotta learn is called clinching. That when you lock up with your opponent like this," Up took Bug's hands and raised them in the air, locking his own into his.

"And you stand kind of like this... there you go."

Bug didn't feel stupid at all when doing this, even though it may have made him look like an idiot. He could handle this. He was assigned Egg Planter on Bug World, after all.

"Then, there's a takedown. This is where the one on offense can bring his opponent to the ground, while keeping control."

Bug nearly screamed when he felt himself falling onto his back on the mat. The wind was definitely knocked out of him.

"You alright, Bug?"

Bug coughed in response.

"Alright. Let's get you up again."

Up lifted Bug to his feet. Then he clinched him once again.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Bug?"

"I don't know if I can do this. That hurt."

"Of course you can do this! If I can do it, you can do it."

"I-I think I changed my mind. I don't wanna lear-"

Bug was cut short again when Up brought him down to the ground.

"Still wanna quit?" Up asked Bug. Even under the mustache, Bug could see that he was trying not to smile.

"Yes!" Bug struggled, but Up somehow had him pinned to the floor, "I'm supposed to be teaching you!"

"But you helped me already, Bug. It's time I returned the favor. Now wrap your arms around my arm like this."

But Bug didn't move. He tried to give Up a serious look to make him let him go.

"I'm trying to help you get out of this. This can be an effective submission move if I slip my arm through here."

And suddenly Bug yelped. Up immediately reversed what he did.

"Up, please get off."

"Just put your arm there and it'll hurt less."

"Alright, alright."

Bug stretched his arm all the way to where Up told him to reach.

"You holding on tight, cuz I can barely feel ya?"

"Yeah."

Junior finally stopped doing sit-ups and watched Up teaching Bug some grappling techniques. But when he saw what Up was doing, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Bug, I know what he's gonna do. You really shouldn't-"

"Shut your mouth, Junior. Or I'll snap this move on you again. You responded to it hilariously, in case you forgot."

"Fine. But I warned you, Bug."

Bug was very confused. He released Up's wrist where the Commander had told him to hold.

"No, get your arm back there, Bug," Up said. Bug noticed that he had a new look in his eyes. One that Bug hand't seen there before. But it didn't look too good for him.

"But Junior said that-"

"Bug!"

Bug placed his arm there again and waited for the worst.

"Bug, no!" Taz came into the training room, but she was too late.

Up had basically spun out of the knot he was tying on Bug, trapped the Ranger's arms and began tickling him on his now exposed sides. Bug shrieked, not able to free his arms. And he found out what that look in his eyes was: mischief.

Taz and Junior looked on. Junior was chuckling, while Taz was just shaking her head, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"I warned him," Junior said once more.

Tootsie had finally stopped what he was doing to see what the commotion was.

"Is the Commander hurting Bug?" he asked after standing next to Taz. Taz looked up at Tootsie.

"No. He's just... _playing_ with him," Taz used the simplest word she could think of to describe the scene to Tootsie.

Now all three of them were watching as Up was now attacking Bug's stomach and sides. Up, not aware of the crowd he was attracting, began taunting Bug.

"You were smart to listen to Junior the first time, Bug. But obeying your Commander put you into this," Up chuckled. Bug just laughed, bucking his body all around to make the tickling sensations stop.

"U-Up! Stop!"

"No can do, Bug. You have to say the magic word."

"Whahahat word?"

"The magic word!"

This was finally where Bug's extent of human knowledge fell short. He never actually observed any humans play before.

So, Bug tried every word he could think of, but none of them were it. He even started naming people in their squad.

Junior was trying not to laugh at Bug's failed attempts. And every time he got it wrong, Up would make him squeal.

"I can do this all day, Bug. It's you that I'm worried about."

"Oh _por amor de dios_, it's PLEASE!" Taz finally yelled.

"Peas! Peas! Peheheas!" Bug screamed. Little did he know, he said the wrong word, but it sounded like the right one to Up. So, the Commander released Bug's arms and stood up. Up turned and saw Taz, Junior and Tootsie all staring at him. He weakly smiled at them.

Bug was still on the ground, giggling. Occasionally he would snort, which made Junior and Tootsie laugh.

"He, uh... He deserved it," Up said to the small group. None of them believed him. Taz and Junior had both fallen victim to Up's scheme when they first started the mission without Bug on board. And they were both tricked, like Bug.

Bug was finally breathing normally, but he remained on his back on the mat. The commander walked over to him and extended an arm to him.

"Up you get, Bug," Up said, smiling slightly. Bug cautiously took Up's hand and he lifted him off the ground. The Ranger fixed his clothes and hair.

Taz, Junior and Tootsie were still standing there.

"Alright... you can all go back to whatever you were doing," Up tried dispersing them. Junior went back to doing push-ups now, chuckling. Tootsie hesitated before also going back to his exercise machine. Taz still stood where she was, looking at Up. Bug was watching the two of them.

"Taz, I..." Up began, "I think I can spar again. I was just... off my game before."

Taz still studied the commander. Then she nodded slowly.

"Okay. Tomorrow... let's see what jou got, Up," and Taz walked back out of the training room. Up turned to Bug who finished putting his shoes back on.

"You think I'm ready for tomorrow, Bug?"

"Um... yeah. Just try to imagine Taz as, _not_ Taz."

Bug wasn't too clear. Then he fixed what he said.

"Just do what you did to me and you'll be fine."

"I can't tickle her, it's against grappling rules."

"No, the other stuff before that. When you knocked me down and stuff. Okay?"

"Yeah. Okay, Bug."

"Great! Thanks for everything, Up," Bug smiled at Up. The commander grinned back at him.

"And thank you. You're gonna come tomorrow to watch me and Taz, right?"

Bug thought about February and figured she could wait another day. Or he could invite her to watch.

"Yeah. Of course."

Up nodded appreciatively.

"Are we done for today?"

"Umm, yeah. I guess so. So..."

"Yes?"

"Did I do what you wanted me to do, Up?"

"And more, Bug."

"Oh cool," Bug smiled, "Well, bye!"

"See you later, Bug."

Bug waved as he left the fitness room. Up stayed there another hour and practiced. The more he stayed in the room, the more things were coming back to him from when he was in his prime.


End file.
